Abstract

We critically examine how evidence and knowledge are brokered between the
various actors (agents) in regulatory decisions on risk. Following a précis of
context and regulatory process, we explore the role power and personality might
play as evidence is synthesised and used to inform risk decisions, providing a
review of the relevant literature from applied psychology, agent-based simulation
and regulatory science. We make a case for the adoption of agent-based tools for
addressing the sufficiency of evidence and resolving uncertainty in regulatory
decisions. Referring to other environmental applications of agent-based decisionmaking,
we propose how an agent model might represent power structures and
personality characteristics with the attending implications for the brokering
of regulatory science. This critical review has implications for the structuring of
evidence that informs environmental decisions and the personal traits required of
modern regulators operating in facilitative regulatory settings.